MSU Trumpet Ensemble Competition video

The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things, but in the College of Music, the drive, motivation, and skill of student musicians persisted. The trumpet studio is a great example of Spartans Will in action.

Faced with distanced learning, virtual ensembles and competitions, and limited practice times this past school year, many members of the trumpet studio remained committed to competing in national competitions and applying for skill-based scholarships. In the end, doing so led to new skills development, like when a trumpet ensemble had to learn a lot about audio and video editing to produce an entry for a major competition.

The group also had to figure out ways to create a homogenous sound – not an easy task given they could not meet in person for the countless hours of rehearsal time they would have gotten in years prior.

“As technology gets more sophisticated, virtual ensembles will likely become more and more prominent, so it has been really cool to learn how to be part of that,” says trumpet ensemble member Willis Dotson. Dotson just finished his second year of DMA studies in trumpet performance. He was the trumpet ensemble leader, did the video editing for the ensemble, and arranged the piece they performed for the National Trumpet Competition (NTC).

Learning video skills is one thing, but getting high quality recordings of their performances is an entirely different challenge. It was something a lot of studio members faced throughout the competition process. Undergraduate Ryan Evans explained that a benefit of virtual competitions is the ability to do multiple takes of a performance.

“A downside is that the competition committees expect near perfection from the performers when they are given unlimited takes,” Evans said. That downside did not seem to slow down Evans. As a soloist, he was an NTC semi-finalist in the undergraduate division, and he is a recipient of the Ryan Anthony International Trumpet Guild Scholarship as well.

While it may be nice to have the option to record as much as you need, graduate trumpet studio member Christiena Taralson found that it became easy to record too much. “In this audition setting, it’s very easy to push yourself too hard and get fixated on small details in the recordings,” said Taralson, a member of the trumpet ensemble and an NTC semi-finalist in the graduate division as a soloist.

Even with these new challenges, it’s clear that the members of the trumpet studio have not forgotten the importance of motivation and a positive attitude. Their professor said that is a key to success.

“First and foremost, even throughout the pandemic, our students in the studio have exhibited a positive attitude and desire to grow and learn,” said Associate Professor of Trumpet Justin Emerich. “As long as that attitude and desire is there, more external accomplishments will follow.”

And that’s great news for a studio that enjoyed a lot of external success throughout this unusual year. The trumpet ensemble placed second overall in the NTC, six soloists made it to the NTC semi-finals, and six members received scholarship awards to attend the International Trumpet Guild Conference in June. One studio member was awarded a performing job with the Navy Fleet Band, and many recent music education graduates from the studio have won competitive jobs in the area.

In addition to the positive outcomes, Taralson is among the trumpet studio members who found some unexpected positives from the past year. 

“We have all had to adapt greatly because of the pandemic,” she said. “Something that I believe is positive from this experience is knowing that music will still thrive, because we’re determined to continue fighting for the arts.”